A)"We have all heard many pro-Third Term propagandists argue that the issue of the term limits is contentious and must be decided by the people through a referendum because power belongs to the people"
B) "During the making of the 1995 Constitution, the Constituent Assemblyâs Rules of Procedure provided for referenda to decide contentious issues." However even when some delegates walked out because of disagreement on the issue of the political system (that remains contentious up to now), our great leaders NEVER ASKED for a referendum to allow the people to decide the matter. Then, they, more than the people themselves, knew what was best for Uganda.
Yes, Article 1 of our constitution says that âAll power belongs to the peopleâ. But the same article also says that THE PEOPLE âSHALL EXERCISE THEIR SOVEREIGNTY in accordance with this Constitutionâ.
In Chapter 18, the constitution spells out the procedure by which that sovereignty may be exercised to amend it.
C) No other law or pronouncement by whosoever shall determine how the Constitution shall be amended, and Article 258(2) is very emphatic about it: âThis Constitution shall not be amended except by an Act of Parliamentââ
In other words..." it is only Parliament that shall amend the constitution and not any referendum, as the pro-Third Term agitators would want ordinary Ugandans to falsely believe.
Where referenda are provided for in the process of amending the constitution, they are only used to enable the people approve the decision of Parliament but never to dictate what Parliament must do!
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Referendum cannot give Museveni third term
By Prof. Ogenga Latigo
Dec 30, 2003
I have no intention whatsoever of entering an arena where two elephants, President Yoweri Museveni and Mr Eriya Kategaya, are fighting lest I, a small hare, is accidentally stepped upon.
Yet, out of curiosity and a sense of responsibility, I cannot help drawing the attention of the public to two small but intriguing items in the Presidentâs latest missive âKategaya Wrong On Origin Of Third Termâ (Sunday Monitor, December 28).
First are the powerful adjectives the President used throughout his article to describe Kategaya and his position or those of the anti-Third Term advocates, and the repeated misrepresentation of what they have stood for on the Third Term project.
Museveni started by describing Kategayaâs commitment to respect the outcome of a referendum as âobviously sensible and responsibleâ. But on Kategayaâs honest suggestion that he Museveni âsecretlyâ (not Kategayaâs word) initiated the agitation for the Third Term, the President comes out strongly that âThis is an insult to me from Mr Kategayaâ.
Then on amending Article 105 (2) of the constitution, âthe so called Third Termâ, the President puts in bold that: âWhat I could not do, however, was to take the thoroughly unreasonable and suspect position to the effect that the Public were supposed to submit proposals for Constitutional reforms on all other matters except on the lifting of the Presidential Termâ.
But who said that? Who said it was âtabooâ to discuss the term limit?
Kategaya and the Malwa Group never did. They merely asserted their view that the term limit was put in the constitution for good reason and that, on the basis of our experience to-date, there was no justification whatsoever for lifting it and they would therefore oppose its amendment.
The President followed strongly âthe anti-Third Term agitators wereâputting forward their biased, un-researched, unreasoned position ...â. Surely, why are the pro-Third Term advocates not âagitatorsâ? Why must anybody imagine that the position of these people is non-biased, researched and reasoned any more than those who oppose the lifting of the two-term limit?
With all due respect, can the President tell this country why and how it is objective and rational to open up term limits solely on the countryâs experience of his Presidency?
Where shall we hide when a President less democratic, less glorious and not all-knowing as him (as were Amin and Obote) comes to again torment Ugandans long after he has been buried and has become âuselessâ to us?
The second in the Presidentâs letter is his innocuous position on amendment of the constitution when he wrote that: âI would have long amended the provisions dealing with investment and environmentâ.
Chapter 15 of the constitution deals with Land and Environment. Honestly, what aspect of Article 245 on the environment and what other provisions on investment, other than his well known quest for land for investment, does the President want to change? Is this a mere diversion or unjustified exaltation?
The more important aspect of that paragraph is Museveniâs assertion that âIt is only the people that can amend the constitutionâ.
And one must link it with his earlier endorsement as âsensible and responsibleâ Kategayaâs commitment to accept the outcome of âtheâ referendum. But which referendum?
We have all heard many pro-Third Term propagandists argue that the issue of the term limits is contentious and must be decided by the people through a referendum because power belongs to the people.
During the making of the 1995 Constitution, the Constituent Assemblyâs Rules of Procedure provided for referenda to decide contentious issues.
However even when some delegates walked out because of disagreement on the issue of the political system (that remains contentious up to now), our great leaders never asked for a referendum to allow the people to decide the matter.
Then, they, more than the people themselves, knew what was best for Uganda.
Yes, Article 1 of our constitution says that âAll power belongs to the peopleâ. But the same article also says that the people âshall exercise their sovereignty in accordance with this Constitutionâ.
In Chapter 18, the constitution spells out the procedure by which that sovereignty may be exercised to amend it.
No other law or pronouncement by whosoever shall determine how the Constitution shall be amended, and Article 258(2) is very emphatic about it: âThis Constitution shall not be amended except by an Act of Parliamentââ
Yes, it is only Parliament that shall amend the constitution and not any referendum, as the pro-Third Term agitators would want ordinary Ugandans to falsely believe.
Where referenda are provided for in the process of amending the constitution, they are only used to enable the people approve the decision of Parliament but never to dictate what Parliament must do!
Thus Article 259 (1) provides that: âA bill for an Act of Parliament seeking to amend any provisions specified in clause (2) of this Article shall not be taken as passed unlessâ (a) it is supported at the second and third readings in Parliament by not less than two-thirds of all members of Parliament; and (b) it has been referred to a decision of the people and approved by them in a referendumâ.
Yes, Parliament must first pass the amendment before a referendum is held for the people to agree with and approve the decision!
Again let us be very clear. The provisions referred to in Article 259(2) include Article 105(1) on the five-year term of office of the President, but does not include Article 105 (2) on the two-term limit- i.e. the Third Term Project.
Apart from the provisions requiring referenda (Article 259) and those requiring approval of the District Councils (Article 260), the rest of the provisions of the constitution including Article 105(2) on the term limit shall be amended when at least two-thirds of all members of Parliament (202 members) support the bill for amendment at both its second and third readings.
So, under what provision of the constitution shall a referendum be held on the Third Term, and for what purpose? Unless of course someone wants to subvert the constitution.
The pro-Third Term agitators know this, and so does Museveni. That is why the Presidentâs letter is intriguing.
The use of strong negative adjectives and ascribing of certain positions to Kategaya and the anti-Third Term advocates in the letter are clearly deliberate efforts to prepare and condition the minds of Ugandans.
The message was clear. âI, Museveni, and those who support me are the good guys, Kategaya and the anti-third Term Advocates are the bad guys.
You know what you want in the constitution and I respect it, but the bad guys do not. I am for you; they are against you. They are spoilers of the good we have done and your future is only safe with me in powerâ!
With this dear Ugandans, I beseech you. Be afraid and be very careful indeed.
Otherwise we shall âCry the Beloved Countryâ.
Prof. Morris W. Ogenga-Latigo is MP Agago County.
